


Taste Test

by Jaseish (Kymopoleia)



Category: LoliRock (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Minor Character Death, Spoilers for S2 finale, hello welcome to angst garbage hell, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-26 08:38:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10783323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kymopoleia/pseuds/Jaseish
Summary: Smoothies and Backstory for an au, might have more coming!





	1. Chapter 1

“So, what’s even in this?” Praxina squints at the glass, holding it up into the light. “I watched you make it, but it wasn’t clear what anything was.”

Nathaniel laughs, leaning into her space for a second to push a straw into the smoothie. “Strawberries, lime, coconut water, cranberries, grapes, pomegranate, and cherries. Don’t you trust me?”

Praxina narrowed her eyes at him before shrugging and smiling. “Why not. Not like I have any other options.”

He bumped her hip and she sighed, relaxing for the first time in what felt like months. Years, even, if she were being honest with herself.

Ever since… the battle on Ephedia, Praxina had been hiding out on Earth. At first she’d just been mindlessly raging, but then she had a good idea. Iris had taken someone from her, so she’d take someone from the stupid girl. The only difference between them was that Praxina wasn’t capable of killing without reason. 

Praxina had littered the world around the two lovebirds with her butterflies, frustrating Iris and driving the human boy crazy. No one else could see them, so it was kind of like a game. Praxina would set out a new butterfly, the boy would get upset, and Iris would clench her fists, freak out, and wait for Praxina to attack. Stupid princess.

The blow came when the human boy was alone, leaning out on the balcony he and his sister shared. The butterfly was on the railing before him, but this one stayed for a few minutes. Flapping her wings, slowly, letting him get a good look. Praxina teleported behind him and watched, fascinated, as he slowly offered the butterfly a finger and she crawled on. He’d turned around, jumped in fear and surprise, but the butterfly on his finger didn’t disappear.

“Beautiful night,” Praxina had said, arms crossed and nails, clawed under her gloves, tapping rhythmically. “Don’t you think?”

“Whoa- where did you come from? How did you get up here?” He’d glanced around, but even when he looked back at her, the butterfly on his finger hadn’t moved. Compared to the weeks of torture and barely seeing them from the corner of his eyes, she was sure this was a surprising change.

“Not important. Why don’t we talk about what is important though?” Praxina had popped her hip and rested a hand on it, beckoning to her butterfly. “Your little pet murderer, Iris.”

Her butterfly had flown and rested on her finger, his face shocked and confused.

“What? Iris isn’t a murderer, she would never-“

“Ah bup bup, no interrupting.” Praxina had narrowed her eyes. “I’m still getting used to this telling the truth thing, and this a very hard truth to tell.” She’d watched her butterfly crawl into her palm, and closed her hand around it. When she reopened it, a crystal screen opened. She could see Nathaniel through it, but he’d been stuck seeing what she projected.

And then she’d projected it. What she’d seen happen to her brother, what Banes had seen happen to Gramorr, and Iris’ hand in it.

The screen had clicked out of existence and the boy’s face… The shock and pain was so familiar.

“Is that who you want in your bed?” Praxina asked, her single showing eyebrow arched. “Really?”

“Did… did she know what she was doing? Where was that, what was going on?” His voice cracked in pain, and Praxina had offered him a hand.

“Come with me, and I’ll tell you everything."

She sips the smoothie, smile on her lips.

A lot had changed since then.

But one thing hadn’t.

She still had Nate on her side.

He has an arm braced on the counter behind her as he watches her play with the straw on the smoothie, humming teasingly.

“So? Do you like it?” He asks.

Praxina giggles and sets it to the side, reaching up to cup the back of his head and pull him in for a sweet-tasting kiss. Short, sweet, hers.

“What do you think?” She whispers into his ear.

He slides a hand up her sweater, to cup the bare skin over her hip, and laughs. “I think you do.”


	2. Chapter 2

The house is so empty without Aunt Ellen. Iris should have expected it, should have known that the only thing she had keeping her from loneliness all these years was her aunt. But somehow… everything suddenly feels so much more real with this sudden reminder.

She runs a hand over every doorway and wall she passes, heart tight in her throat and worry running rampant. She gets to the atrium and lets herself slide to the floor.

Auriana was in Volta for the weekend, reconnecting with her family as they were getting freed and finally slowly coming back together. Talia was on a tense mission with Izira, both searching for the missing medallion. Lyna and Carissa had respectfully refused to come back to Earth, Ellen was rebuilding her home in Calix, and Iris’ parents were rebuilding their castle and the lives of their subjects.

Nathaniel was Praxina’s.

Iris was alone.

She pulls a flowerpot, the one that’d held Rosie in it before Talia insisted they unenchant the flower, and holds her hand in front of the bloom. She doesn’t remember the spell she used, but when her hand shakily opens up a magic circle, Rosie comes back to life and starts whining.

It… isn’t the same.

Rosie starts to rub her bud against Iris’ hand, looking for affection, but all Iris can do is start sniffling as she pats the flower gently. It isn’t enough, isn’t the same as talking to her best friend or her aunt or any of her other friends.

But they were all gone, and she was stuck. Alone. Scared.

The barrier was still strong, so Praxina couldn’t get in… but Nathaniel was probably still able. Iris had no real protection against him because she’d never needed it, but once Praxina got her clutches in him… Iris hadn’t had any options.

Ugh, why hadn’t she just found Praxina and attacked her? Made her stop the butterflies before she carried out her plot, before she turned the most important person in Iris’ life against her? Why had Iris letting the villainess have time to grieve get turned so far against her? It wasn’t fair and she was getting so frustrated and angry with herself over the whole thing.

There were other people she could reach out to, Doug and Kyle, Joanna, Lily, even Missy and her prissy best friends. But none of them were her friends, they’d chosen Nate.

They’d chosen Nate over her.

She didn’t blame them.

Iris supposed she even deserved this whole mess. It was her fault that Mephisto had died, her fault that Gramorr had died, her fault that Praxina had turned to even worse measures. Just a few weeks before Praxina had proved that there was still good in her heart, and then Iris had gone and burnt it to a crisp. All that was left was ashes, hatred, and disgust for her, and she honestly couldn’t blame the other girl. It was her fault.

Iris sets Rosie down and blindly closes the magic circle that’d been keeping the plant animated, accidentally sucking the life out of the rose in the process.

She claps a hand over her mouth when she realizes what she’d done, but it’s too late.

A shard of dark pink crystal had slid up through the dirt and pierced the rosebud.

Iris… 

She grabbed the pot and threw it at the far wall, cracking the glass there. The tears start to flow freely now in the wake of the flower-dog’s death. When had her touch turned poisonous? What had she done wrong?

“I’m sorry.” She whispers, face getting red and puffy as gross sobs start deep in her chest. She feels like all the plants are watching her, judging her, scared of her.

“I didn’t mean to.”

They don’t accept her apologies, but then again… neither can Mephisto.


End file.
